Chapter 30 River
River
I wake up the next morning to Callie’s warm hand gliding over me, and it feels more like a fucking dream. For a second, I keep my eyes closed and my body still, afraid that even a twitch might break the spell.
Her touch is so damn tentative. Her fingers skim just beneath the waistband of my boxer briefs, like she’s memorizing the shape of me.
Like she wants this.
Wants me.
All I can think about is last night and the look in her eyes when she finally let go. The way her body trembled while she learned how to give herself pleasure. The quiet, broken sounds she made when she fell apart. The way she leaned into me afterward, like she finally felt safe.
In that moment, everything changed between us, becoming more permanent.
Like we crossed some invisible threshold and there’s no going back.
Even better, she doesn’t want to.
She’s not taking a giant step in retreat with the need to regroup.
When her hand drifts lower, growing bolder, I nearly lose it. Before I can say a word, she swings a leg over me and straddles my hips, her bare thighs bracketing my waist.
My eyelids fly open, and I find Callie naked. Her blonde hair tumbles around her shoulders and her cheeks are still flushed with sleep. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything more beautiful than this woman. My gaze roves over her face, wanting to sear this moment into my brain for all eternity.
“If this is a dream,” I rasp, “please don’t wake me.”
Her lips quirk as a laugh escapes from her. “It’s not.”
Unable to resist touching her, my hands slide upward along her thighs before resting on her hips. Even though every muscle in my body is tense with restraint, I keep my grip light.
“What is it that you want from me, Callie?” I ask, my gaze locking on hers. “I made you a promise, and I’m not the kind of man who breaks his word. You might not understand that right now, but you will.”
Her expression changes. The teasing falls away before being replaced by something raw and open. And it’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.
She leans in as her eyes search mine. “I want you,” she whispers. “I want to feel you inside me, filling me up.”
Fuck.
The words hit me like a freight train. Hard, fast, and impossible to ignore.
“Are you sure?”
She nods, but it’s not enough.
Not for this.
I reach up and brush two fingers across her lips. “Words, Callie. I need to hear you say it. I don’t want there to be a single second where you doubt this. Or worse, regret it.”
“I won’t,” she says. “I promise. I want you.”
That’s all I need.
When she leans down, the soft swells of her breasts brush against my chest, and I angle my head until my mouth finds her nipple before sucking gently, rolling my tongue against the peak until she gasps, arching into me. Then I move to the other, giving it the same attention.
Her fingers tangle in my hair, tugging as her hips shift against mine.
“Your body is so damn beautiful.” I trail kisses along the slope of her breast. “And it made Nora. That makes it a fucking miracle.”
She stills.
Just for a second, but it’s more than enough for me to feel.
I pause and look up at her. “What’s wrong?”
Her eyes shimmer, but she doesn’t look away. “Zane didn’t think so,” she admits, the words so quiet, I almost don’t catch them. “He wasn’t attracted to me when I was pregnant.”
Her words grow so small that it very nearly guts me.
Rage rises in my chest, and I have to beat it down before cupping her face with both hands. I want her to not only hear what I’m about to say but feel it. “I thought you were so goddamn sexy when you were pregnant that it was impossible to think straight.”
Her eyes are wide and filled with uncertainty when they lift to mine.
“Do you have any idea how many days I had to stay away from you because I couldn’t stop picturing the way your body was changing?
How many times I caught myself staring at the fullness of your breasts or the curve of your hips?
I’d look at your stomach and think about how radiant you looked.
I’m not even going to tell you how many times I got myself off thinking about your beautiful body. ”
The blush that rises to her cheeks only makes her more stunning.
“I’m not even embarrassed,” I add with a huff of dry laughter. “Okay, maybe a little. It was an alarming number. Zane’s a fucking idiot. He didn’t deserve you or your daughter. Not then, not now, not ever.”
She opens her mouth, maybe to deflect or argue, but I don’t let her.
“No.” I brush my thumbs across her cheekbones. “Don’t you dare speak his name right now. Not here. Not when you’re with me. If you’re still thinking about him, then I’m not doing a good enough job keeping you focused on me.”
Color creeps down her neck before spreading across her chest in a flush I want to chase with my mouth.
My hands trail down her body, kneading the swell of her breasts, tracing the delicate line of her waist and curve of her hips.
I lift her just enough for her to understand what I’m asking.
She shifts forward until her thighs bracket my head and her pussy is poised inches above my mouth before lowering herself.
The second her warmth presses against my tongue, I lose all sense of time or space.
Of anything but this woman.
She tastes like heaven. I groan against her, wrapping my arms around her thighs and pulling her even closer.
The sound of her moan is enough to leave me reeling.
“You have no idea,” I say between strokes of my tongue, “how long I’ve wanted to do this. How many nights I wondered what you’d taste like.”
I work her slowly at first, teasing her lips, flicking her clit before circling deeper, letting the pressure build. Her fingers dig into the headboard above me, anchoring herself as her hips start to move and she unravels one shiver at a time.
It only makes me realize how damn hungry I am for her.
For all of it.
For everything she’s willing to give.
I bury my face between her supple thighs. Her honeyed scent, her warmth, the sound of her falling apart above me, it all consumes me. Gripping her hips, I angle her just right and let my tongue worship her delicate flesh.
This isn’t about getting her off.
It’s about showing her what it feels like to be adored.
To be wanted.
To be cherished in the way she should have always been.
“You taste so fucking good,” I murmur against her slick heat. “I could happily stay here all day.”
My name comes out on a throaty moan, and it sounds very much like surrender.
I slide one hand around to the small of her back, holding her steady. My mouth is unrelenting. Gentle, then firm. I want her to fall apart and know without question she’s safe in my arms.
I’ll never do anything to hurt her.
“River… that feels so good.”
I press my mouth against her, letting her chase the crest of the wave as it builds. My world narrows until there’s nothing but Callie. Her taste, the sounds she makes, and the way she moves above me. If I weren’t so intent on devouring this woman, I’d admit she’s right… it’s that damn good.
But right now?
I don’t want to stop.
My cock is rock-hard, aching with the need to sink deep inside her, to feel that tight, wet heat grip me like I’ve imagined more times than I can count.
But in this moment?
Our first time?
It’s all about her.
It’s about showing her how a man loves a woman.
Her hips roll against my mouth, her damp skin slick with arousal and heat as she presses herself to my tongue. I lick her harder and then deeper, worshipping every inch. I want her panting as she comes apart. I want to ruin her for any other man with nothing more than my mouth.
She trembles, thighs squeezing around my head, her cries breaking on my name like waves. Her body jolts with the force of her orgasm, hips twitching as her pussy pulses around my tongue. The addictive taste of her floods me, and I realize that it wouldn’t take much for me to come from this alone.
If I’m not careful, that’s exactly what will happen.
But I don’t stop kissing her through the aftershocks. I draw them out until her entire body sags and her fingers curl into my hair, holding me in place.
I press one final kiss to her clit, so tender she lets out a shaky exhale, and then I rise.
Carefully, I shift her back and roll her over, my body covering hers as I settle between her thighs.
The evidence of her pleasure coats my cock as I slide it gently along her slit, teasing the entrance I’ve wanted to bury myself in for years. My control hangs by a fucking thread.
“We didn’t talk about contraception,” I rasp.
Her eyes are soft and liquid as they meet mine. “No, we didn’t.”
“Are you on something?” The head of my cock strokes along her entrance as it gathers up her arousal.
“The pill.”
“I want you to know that I’m clean, Callie. I was serious when I said that I haven’t been with anyone since—” I pause. “Since long before Nora was born.”
Her hand finds mine, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Me too.”
That small, simple touch nearly undoes me.
With my forehead pressed against hers, I slide my cock along her soaked pussy, fighting the instinct to drive inside her and lose myself.
“I want to take you bare,” I admit. “I want to feel you wrapped around me. Tight and warm and mine. I want to thrust in you so deep that even when I’m gone, you’ll still feel me there. ”
Her pupils dilate and her thighs spread even wider.
“I want you to know exactly what it’s like when a man worships you. I want to ruin you for anyone else, the same way you ruined me a long time ago.”
Her lips part, but not a sound comes out. I see the response written across her face and feel it in the way her body opens to mine. The way she leans into my words instead of flinching from them.
And still, I need to give her one last truth before taking her.
“Once I’m inside you,” I murmur, dragging the head of my cock slowly up her slit, “you belong to me. That pussy belongs to me. I’ve waited so long, and I’ll be damned if I ever give it up.
I promise that I’ll keep her so happy, so full, so fucked and satisfied, she’ll forget anyone else ever existed. And she’ll know exactly who owns her.”
When she lets out a whimper, my entire body clenches.
“But it’s not just that.” With one hand, I tilt her chin upward, forcing her to see me. “You already own me, Callie. Every part. Every breath. My cock just wants what it’s always wanted. You.”
Her eyes glisten, and she gulps like she’s trying to swallow everything I just confessed.
In that moment, I can’t help but wonder if I said too much.
Peeled back too many layers.
If I’ve completely shattered the line between wanting her and needing her, because that’s what this is.
Need.
I’m not here to play games.
And I don’t want to pretend or hold anything back.
My mask is slipping, and I don’t give a fuck.
Not with her.
Not anymore.
One taste, and the part of me I’ve always kept tightly restrained, snapped loose like a leash torn clean.
The beast inside me has broken free.
And he’s hungry.
Territorial.
Most of all, he belongs to her.
My eyes lock on hers, and for a second, everything else fades away.
It’s just us.
And the ache filling my heart.
Along with the truth I’ve held inside for years.
“I need you to understand exactly what you’re getting yourself into,” I say. “I won’t let you go. Not easily, anyway. Not like he did.”
Her gaze never wavers. “Good.”
Something inside me loosens at her easy acquiescence. It’s like a knot that’s been tied too tight finally gives.
I brush a strand of hair away from her cheek. “And if you end up with a baby in your belly, I’ll put a ring on your finger so damn fast it’ll make your head spin. I’ll be dragging your sexy ass to the altar. No questions asked.”
A smile tugs at her mouth. “And if I say no?”
I groan, teasing her entrance with the tip of my cock, watching her arch into me, as if she needs me as much as I need her. It only takes a stroke or two before a moan slips free from her.
“Are you really gonna say no to the man who worships the very ground you walk on?” I rasp, dragging myself through her softness.
With a gasp, she shakes her head. “No, I wouldn’t. But—”
“There are no buts,” I growl. “Now, are you ready to be fucked the way a man should’ve been fucking you all along?”
Her head tips back as a needy sound spills from her. “God, yes.”
That’s all I need to hear.
Every single part of me screams to claim her pussy. To finally slide into the heat I’ve been dreaming about for years. To make her mine in every way that counts.
I shift forward, cock poised at her drenched entrance, her body open and eager beneath me—
“Hello?” A woman’s voice echoes from down the hall. It’s muffled but unmistakable. “River? Where are you?”
Callie stills beneath me as her eyes fly open.
With a groan, I drop my forehead to hers in defeat. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
“Who is that?”
“My sister,” I mutter. “Willow.”
We stare at each other for a long beat, her face flushed, chest rising and falling rapidly. I’m still so hard it hurts, and she’s panting.
“River?” The voice comes again, louder this time and much closer.
I curse.
And then, as if by silent agreement, we’re scrambling. Half-laughing and half-panicking as I roll off her and Callie grabs the blanket, yanking it up to cover her bare body.
With a groan, I push off the bed, still rock hard, still tasting her sweetness on my tongue, and shake my head with a rueful grin. “So damn close.”
Callie looks over at me, panting and dazed, her hair a wild halo around her head.
She’s seriously the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.
But it’s way more than that.
It’s just her.
Her lips twitch. “Yeah… close.”
As I take one last look at her in my bed, tangled up in my sheets, her lips still parted from all the things we almost did, I know one thing with absolute certainty.
If I wasn’t already in love with her, this would’ve been the moment I fell.
And the truth?
I’m not sure I’ll ever get back up again.